Dairy free - what do you all eat at Christmas?

[IlanaK]

This is the first year I have had to be dairy free at Christmas (new baby reacts to it when I eat it). I am already missing out on mince pies. I eat Green and Blacks Maya Gold for chocolate, but would love a nice little selcetion box for variety at Christmas. And we usually have croissants for breakfast on xmas day so I can't have those either.

Help me find some nice alternatives so I don't feel I am missing out please!

most of the supermarkets do own brand "free from" mince pies, christmas pudds etc - some do croissants too though not sure if these are DF or just WF and GF - all of these are way more expensive than "normal" ones.

or you can of course make your own, which I do, they turn out fine!(sorry, not the croissants, not tried that!)

there are all sorts of soya milk chocolate alternatives if you prefer something less bitter than the G&B

tesco do some yummy DF sorbets, or swedish glace non dairy "ice cream" (black octagonal tub)is also good (and comes in flavours though I have only seen vanilla in supermarket, holland and barret do other flavour), you can make a "cheescake" type dessert using tofu

what else do you want to know about?

Thanks. I can't have soya either. I have not seen the dairy free mince pies, but then we have no large supermarkets near us (all sort of independants and farmers markets - which I love, but it does limit this kind of thing). I am happy to make my own mince pies - in fact I would enjoy it if anyone can give me a dairy free recipe.

I have found a delicious sorbet locally which is nice, but I do really miss icecream. As far as I know, all the alternatives are soya based.

What else? Hmmmmm.....a selection box of really good quality chocolates I suppose. Christmas cake? Is that dairy free already?

I make my own dairy free mince pies and Christmas cake using Pure margarine - I think they do a version that is soya free as well as dairy free.

We make pancakes with maple syrup for Xmas breakfast. I do the batter with rice or oat milk (works with just plain water as well) instead of cow's milk.

You'll need Pure Sunflower or Vitalite, both of which are dairy and soya free, to make your own mince pies etc.

I don't know of a non-dairy non-soya ice cream I'm afraid. Was wondering earlier if it was possible to make your own ice cream using other milks (reckon almond milk might be nice for this).

I bought elizabeth shaw mint crisps for after lunch, but haven't checked whether they are soya free or not. Can't think of a selection pack off the top of my head.

Could you have bacon muffins for breakfast instead of croissants?

I am wondering the same thing, although I am ok with a bit of soya as DS isn't so allergic to that. Bacon muffins is a really good idea

Anyone tried making bread sauce with rice milk or oat milk?

I'm sure my sister eats mr kipling mince pies, and she's vegan.

And if she makes anything with pastry, she uses the packs of frozen pastry. It's made with veg oil instead of butted I think.

Really?? That would be fabulous if true. I am useless at making pastry. I will check.

Yes good point. Some ready made pastry has milk in it (dessert pastry esp), but most doesn't.

I have just found this for chocolate shock

SOrry that should be

Oh bravo, but for the prices!

Yes, I agree about the prices. We have a Rocco chocolate shop near us. I may go in there and compare.

it is dead easy to make your own dairy free pastry, especially if you have a food mixer.

Bung in 250g of flour, add an espresso cup size of veg oil, add the same amount as water as oil and whizz. I tend to add the water bit by bit so as not to add too much. Makes a slightly sticky dough that you need a fair bit of flour to roll out. I let it rest in the fridge for about half an hour as you would with normal pastry.

Needs slightly longer to cook than pastry made with butter.

Yup Sainsbury's puff pastry ready made is dairy free! I couldn't believe it. It does have coconut oil though.
Also you could make pastry with Trex.

Yup Sainsbury's puff pastry ready made is dairy free! I couldn't believe it. It does have coconut oil though.
Also you could make pastry with Trex.

Excellent - I will make my own then. Shame the jars of organic mincemeat are so expensive. I just looked in my local health food shop and it was over £3 a smallish jar.

What's in mincemeat that's dairy?

Nothing! Its just what was available locally and it cost a fortune!

pure do a sunflower dairy free spread (details here )that you can use instead of butter to make mince pies and christmas cake.
Most christmas puddings are dairy free.

Aldi have lovely dark choccy called Moser Roth, you get about 5 smaller bars in a pack- I've just looked and it has soya lecithin in, though. They have brought out a posh looking box of moser roth choccies which I put on my christmas list, but my mum checked ingredients and the dark choc selection box contains dairy-boo!

I'm lactose intolerant, not allergic, and I've been using lactofree milk recently- I don't like to drink milk, but use it for cooking (eg yorkshire puddings) and it's great for cooking with- doesn't curdle like soya or rice milk can.

hi just a quick question is soya lecithin a dairy product?

no, it's not, I only mentioned it because Ilanak said she couldn't have soya, either

Tesco do a lovely little treat called a 'chocolate tiffin'. It's made from cocoa, cocoa butter, cranberries raisins etc. No dairy or soya. They're delicious